S&P blow for Zimbabwe indices

by Ndou Paul

16 Dec 2018 at 15:05hrs | Views

Zimbabwe will be removed from the S&P African Indices on December 24, 2018, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced in a December 14 statement.

Citing inflation and foreign currency shortages, that have made it virtually impossible for investors to repatriate their funds, the S&P Global division said it reached the decision after consultations with investors.

"Due to the worsening situation in the country regarding foreign currency shortages and inflation concerns, S&P DJI will remove index constituents domiciled in Zimbabwe," the announcement read.

The S&P African Index is used by investors as a benchmark for the African market; it covers companies listed in 13 African countries and tracks the stock market prices of those companies. Zimbabwean companies will now be excluded from that index.

The move reflects growing investor concerns about the multi-currency system which has been contaminated by close to nine billion RTGS dollars and Bond Notes that are not backed by actual hard currency.

In 2017, a Zimbabwean-born analyst was targeted over South Africa's S&P downgrade.South African politician, Sello Rasethaba, targeted a Zimbabwean-born Standard and Poor's analyst as the man behind South Africa's sovereign ratings downgrade by S&P Global.

Tatonga Gardner Rusike is a Sovereign Analyst in the S&P Emerging Markets Sovereign ratings team covering a number of African sovereigns, local and regional governments, government related entities and multilaterals. Gardner is the Primary Credit Analyst on South Africa.

Prior to joining S&P Global in 2012, Gardner worked as an Economist in Western Cape Government Fiscal Policy Division for three years and also taught undergraduate economics at Rhodes University for two years.

Rusike holds a B. Sc in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe and a Masters in Financial Markets (cum laude) from Rhodes University. He also completed the South African Institute of Financial Markets Registered Persons Exams.